Category Archives: Inequality in the news

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A couple of weeks ago, a report from Credit Suisse claimed that New Zealand had the highest median wealth in the world. At the time, I questioned the claim: could the average New Zealander really be wealthier than the average Swede, Australian or Dane? I also thought the figures were well out of line with…

Yesterday’s announcement by John Key that, in future, salaries for MPs will rise only in line with salaries for ordinary public sector workers is a big deal for two reasons. First, it provides more evidence that the public is very concerned about inequality in general, and high salaries in particular. Key has made noises about…

UMR Research have just released their latest Mood of the Nation report (not online yet), and it shows huge public concern about our widened income gaps. The key findings are: Concern Fully half the country is “very concerned” about inequality, with a further 37% “somewhat concerned”; just 13% say they are not concerned about it…

As the Living Wage campaign gathers momentum, the latest development is a petition being circulated at Auckland University, calling on the Vice Chancellor, Stuart McCutcheon, to support a Living Wage for all university staff. It comes on the heels of Wellington city council agreeing to pay the Living Wage to all its staff (with contractors…

The ODT is the latest newspaper to come out arguing that inequality is a crucial issue for New Zealand. In an editorial, it argues that it has to be tackled not just through financial support for people at the lower end but also fundamental changes in thinking and policy. Oxfam is calling on governments to…

A lot of the research behind the Living Wage is based on overseas work (unsurprisingly, since that’s where it originated), so it’s good to see that Massey academics are launching a project to look at what it means here: Project team co-leader Professor Jane Parker says the project aims to “go beyond the usual economic…

Prue Hyman has an excellent piece in the Dom Post today about why it makes sense economically to pay the Living Wage: Productivity gains, reduced absenteeism, and lower turnover costs are benefits found overseas when committed workers know they are valued. One key argument against the Living Wage has been that it is not well…

The only thing worse than being attacked is being ignored, so it’s probably a good sign that people are now taking the time to criticise Inequality: A New Zealand Crisis. This is the latest such, from the Herald: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11150603 Of course, inequality is not a zero-sum game, as the article claims. The point is that…

More media coverage in recent weeks – in both the main centres and the regions – strengthens the case that inequality is one of the key issues today. Stuff has just run a major story on income gaps, quoting Inequality: A New Zealand Crisis and attracting over 170 comments. The story is here: http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/money/9330822/Do-Kiwis-care-about-wage-inequality Meanwhile,…

In a debate organised last week by Victoria University students, the motion that ‘inequality is natural’ won out over the opposing view by a margin of 49 to 43. This might seem like a setback for those who care about inequality. But in fact it wasn’t. The affirmative team, led by Shamubeel Eaqub of the…